Companies and financial institutions with accounts in Japan and the UAE can move funds to supported Citi markets without waiting for bank cut-off times or holiday calendars.
Citi Token Services is now live in Japan and the United Arab Emirates, taking the bank’s tokenized deposit payment network to seven markets. Corporate and financial institution clients can move liquidity between supported accounts around the clock.
In its September 28 announcement, Citi said the two markets join the United States, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The service supports cross-border payments as well as cash and collateral management. The expansion was announced as live, rather than as a pilot awaiting launch.
Dollars in Japan, dollars and euros in the UAE
The currency scope differs between the new markets. Clients in Japan can transact in US dollars, while the UAE service supports both dollars and euros. The announcement does not list support for yen or dirhams.
Clients with accounts in Japan and the UAE can transfer funds to their own accounts or other clients’ accounts in previously enabled locations. Citi says payments can run without the constraints of banking cut-off times or holiday calendars. That is the practical use for companies managing cash needs across time zones.
Rizwan Shaikh, Citi’s Head of Services for the Middle East and Africa, described the capability for UAE clients with these words in the written announcement:
“manage cross-currency liquidity 24/7”
Clients do not have to hold tokens
The infrastructure represents bank deposits on a private, permissioned blockchain owned and managed by Citi. As the bank explained in its October 10, 2024 service update, clients do not have to hold or manage tokens themselves to use it.
No new retail investment token was announced. The expansion concerns Citi’s deposit and payment service for companies and financial institutions. A seven-market footprint does not mean unrestricted access to every bank or currency.
Oracle’s Swift integration is another banking development in Web3 and technology news, focused on tokenized deposits. Its focus was coordinating payments across different banking infrastructures; Citi’s latest step expands the geographic reach of its own service.
A holiday dollar transfer shows the practical use
An earlier transaction in Thailand illustrates how an always-on payment service can be used. Under the SCB collaboration announced on July 9, 2026, dollars moved from a PhillipCapital group account at Citi in London to a Siam Commercial Bank account in Thailand over a US holiday weekend. The transfer combined Citi Token Services with the bank’s 24/7 USD Clearing service.
In the video below, published by Citi on September 25, SCB explains its need to make payments on weekends and US holidays. It covers an earlier deployment, before the Japan and UAE announcement.
